BOOK AND MEDIA REVIEW pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Review of Nanosciences: The Invisible Revolution George B. Kauffman* Department of Chemistry, California State University Fresno, Fresno, California 93740-8034, United States Nanosciences: The Invisible Revolution by Christian vert . World Scientific PublishJoachim and Laurence Ple ing Co.: Singapore, Hackensack, NJ, and London, 2009. 117 pp; translated from French by John Crisp. ISBN: 978981-283-714-1. $28.00 (paper).
more accustomed to directing that questing spirit toward stars and galaxies, toward the immensely large. But there are infinities too in a grain of sand. Chapter 1, “A Case of Misdirection”, explains how nanotechnology, with its focus on sustainable development, evolved into today’s “catch-all” nanotechnologies as a result of complex political maneuverings involving vested interests, money, and competition. Chapter 2, “The Incredible Shrinking Chip” (21 pages, the longest chapter), describes the instruments and marvels of nanotechnology and retraces the key episodes in miniaturization, a process often wrongly equated with nanotechnology. Chapter 3, “Staying at the Bottom”, tells “the true story of nanotechnology”. Chapter 4, “Monumentalization”, predicts the nature of the next generations of nanomachines. Chapter 5, “Nannobacteria”, considers whether the fantasy of recreating life from nonliving life has any chance of becoming a reality (The double “n” spelling is explained in Appendix II). Chapter 6, “Who’s Afraid of Nanotechnologies?”, summarizes the debates about the benefits and risks of the application of nanotechnologies and considers whether there is anything to fear in the exploitation of the infinitely small. Appendix I, “A Short History of Microscopy”, briefly reviews microscopy from Robert Hooke, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, and Galileo Galilei to the scanning tunneling microscope. Appendix II, “Trials and Tribulations of a Prefix”, surveys the history of the prefix “nano” from the legend of the Greek poet Mimnermus of Colophon, who fell under the spell of a flute player named Nanno (ca. 600 BCE), and concludes that “in seeking to extend its empire, our prefix ‘nano’ has overreached itself” (p 113). A three-page bibliography lists 31 references to books and articles from 1912 to 2006. The cover of the book features five bubbles of STM images and a cartoon of a scientist holding a single molecule. Five figures (two in color) are included in the text. This slim, modestly priced volume will be of interest to students and researchers in the nanosciences as well as to anyone desiring to know more about this burgeoning, highly publicized field.
Nanosciences and related technologies involve the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale (structures between 1 and 100 nm; 1 nm = 10 9 m), and deal with developing materials or devices within that size range. An extremely popular topic globally, in the eyes of some, nanosciences promise developments such as nanobots (nanotechnology robots) and revolutionary new materials. In the eyes of others, they raise the false specter of “Big Brother” and of atomically modified organisms (AMOs). This likely controversial book, an English translation by John Crisp of the original French version,1 is intended as “a counterbalance to spin and paranoia alike, asking us to consider what the nanosciences really are”. Christian Joachim of the CEMES (Centre d’Elaboration de Materiaux et d’Etudes Structurales)2 at Toulouse, one of the main CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) research institutes, is the recipient of two Feynman Prizes in Nanotechnology (1997 Experimental; 2005 Theoretical), sponsored by the Foresight Institute of Palo Alto, California, and has played a major role in the birth of the nanosciences. His coauthor, Laurence Plevert, is identified as an “independent science journalist”. Nanosciences are not only a branch of materials sciences, which is a common representation fostered in the funding wars. Furthermore, nanotechnology should not be confused with miniaturization, a convergence of microelectronics, biotechnology, and lab-on-chip techniques. According to the authors, these misconceptions have arisen from a well-orchestrated United States policy begun during the mid-1990s, in which the scanning tunneling microscope (STM), the instrument that lies at the core of the actual nanoscience revolution, plays only a minor role. These issues are dealt with for the first time in this book written from the cutting edge and with an understanding of the true nature of the nanosciences with a scientific and historical perspective and a response to the misplaced ethical concerns of objectors and to the scaremongering of the popular press. “Introduction: Infinities in a Grain of Sand” (at two pages, the shortest chapter), borrows William Blake’s phrase and invites the reader “to take the plunge into the infinitely small, to stay there—‘at the bottom’—and play with a single atom or a single molecule” (p 1). The authors proclaim (p 3): The purpose of this book is to describe what nanotechnologies really are, and to consider their scientific and technical consequences. To do this, we need to rediscover the urge to know, which is such a characteristic feature of the human mind. We are Copyright r 2011 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
’ AUTHOR INFORMATION Corresponding Author
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[email protected] ’ REFERENCES (1) Joachim, C.; Plevert, L. Nanosciences: La Revolution Invisible; Editions du Seuils: Paris, 2008. (2) Centre d’Elaboration de Materiaux et d’Etudes Structurales Home Page. http://www.cemes.fr/ (accessed Feb 2011). Published: March 17, 2011 543
dx.doi.org/10.1021/ed200113r | J. Chem. Educ. 2011, 88, 543–543
